Skip to content
List your business

Best Cafés in Nairobi (2026)

Kenya grows some of the world's most prized coffee, and Nairobi is a good place to taste it close to the source. Java House, which opened its first café at Adams Arcade in 1999, is the dependable everyday choice with branches across the city. For specialty coffee, Spring Valley Coffee roasts at origin and has won national awards, and its cafés are a good place to buy beans to take home. History lovers can sit at the Thorn Tree Café at the Sarova Stanley, where travellers once pinned messages to an acacia tree.

Many of the most pleasant cafés are outdoors and away from the city centre. Tin Roof Café runs garden cafés in Karen and Lang'ata, with a playground at the Lang'ata branch, and The River Café sits inside Karura Forest, making it an ideal breakfast stop after a walk or ride, although forest entry fees apply. In Loresho, Wasp and Sprout combines a café with a furniture workshop and shop. Opening hours vary by branch and season, so check before you go, and remember that many cafés close in the early evening.

6 places · Updated October 23, 2026

Our top 3 cafés in Nairobi

  1. Thorn Tree Café Historic hotel café, Central Business DistrictThe Sarova Stanley's pavement café, built around an acacia tree where generations of travellers pinned messages for one another in the days before email.
  2. Java House Kenyan coffee house chain, Central Business DistrictThe Kenyan coffee house chain that began at Adams Arcade in 1999, serving Kenyan coffee and diner-style meals across Nairobi and East Africa.
  3. Tin Roof Café Outdoor garden café, KarenA pair of outdoor gastro-cafés in Karen and Lang'ata built around fresh food in fresh air, with salads, burgers, wraps, smoothies and garden seating.

Café

1. Thorn Tree Café

Historic hotel café$$Central Business District

The Sarova Stanley's pavement café, built around an acacia tree where generations of travellers pinned messages for one another in the days before email.

View details — Thorn Tree Café

Café

2. Java House

Kenyan coffee house chain$$Central Business District

The Kenyan coffee house chain that began at Adams Arcade in 1999, serving Kenyan coffee and diner-style meals across Nairobi and East Africa.

View details — Java House

Café

3. Tin Roof Café

Outdoor garden café$$Karen

A pair of outdoor gastro-cafés in Karen and Lang'ata built around fresh food in fresh air, with salads, burgers, wraps, smoothies and garden seating.

View details — Tin Roof Café

Café

5. The River Café

Forest café and all-day restaurant$$Karura Forest

An open-air café inside Karura Forest serving all-day breakfast, continental lunches and coffee with views over the trees, ideal after a forest walk or ride.

View details — The River Café

Café

6. Wasp and Sprout

Café and furniture workshop$$Loresho

A family-run café in Loresho that shares its space with a furniture workshop and shop, serving fresh food and coffee among sustainably made pieces.

View details — Wasp and Sprout